Faculty

Troy A. McEachron, Ph.D.

Overview

My research focuses on two separate yet complimentary areas: (1) the utilization of next generation genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic technologies to profile recurrent and/or refractory pediatric, adolescent, and young adult (AYA) cancer patients for clinical decision making; (2) the use of functional genomics to identify and interrogate the developmental and therapeutic aspects of sarcomas that predominantly arise in the pediatric and AYA populations. My overall research interests are a reflection of my diverse training history. My training background in basic science includes the molecular dissection of autocrine and paracrine signaling mechanisms between tumor and host using in vitro and in vivo models and the characterization of genetically engineered mouse models of pediatric brain tumors. Additionally, my translational science training includes the interpretation and functional validation next generation sequencing data from recurrent/refractory pediatric cancer patients.

Over time I have gained an immense interest in rhabdomyosarcomas (RMS), desmoplastic small round cell tumors (DSRCT), Ewing sarcomas (EWS), and clear cell sarcomas (CCS). The relatively low mutation burden in numerous different types of sarcomas suggests that there are transcriptional and/or epigenetic mechanisms that drive these diseases. This is inline with recent studies suggesting that epigenetic dysregulation and altered developmental programing drive many pediatric malignancies. Moreover, the mechanisms by which sarcoma-specific oncogenic fusion genes initiate and/or sustain disease remains elusive. My laboratory is dedicated to developing new biological tools and approaches to enable a functional genomics inquiry into these mechanisms as to reveal insight into the underlying biology of these sarcomas. Additionally, we will interrogate patient derived material to better define the molecular characteristics of different sarcoma subtypes to enable more precise treatment strategies for these difficult diseases.